Vietnam baby-care retailer Con Cung bags US$90m investment from Quadria Capital

VIETNAM-BASED retailer of maternity and baby-care products Con Cung has received a US$90 million investment from Quadria Capital, the healthcare investment firm said on Tuesday (Jan 18).

The funds will be used to support Con Cung's plans to launch 2,000 local stores by 2025, expand its product portfolio, and develop an all-in-one super app that provides personalised products and services.

Con Cung currently owns over 600 stores across 45 provinces and cities in Vietnam and sells more than 2,000 stock keeping units of mum and baby-care products including milk powder, equipment and baby fashion. It also has an app, launched in 2019, to meet an upsurge in mobile-based purchases.

Minh Nguyen, chairman and co-founder of Con Cung, noted that many Vietnamese mothers are shifting part of their spending towards e-commerce as consumer preferences change.

"We aim to be the one-stop destination for mothers to fulfil their maternity and baby-care needs in a convenient and safe environment," he said.

As part of the investment, Quadria will also add Robert Willett - former chief executive of Best Buy International and global managing partner of Accenture's Retail practice - to Con Cung's board of directors. Quadria noted that Willett is "a leading global retail expert with deep familiarity with the Vietnam retail scene".

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Ewan Davis, managing director of Quadria, said the investment firm has "lined up several collaborations" to help them penetrate the health and wellness segment, and further develop better mother and child-centric products and services.

Con Cung's expansion plans include the launch of its first Super Center in January this year, that will feature its products, a coffee shop, a playground and a dedicated floor for infant care, nutrition and obstetrician-gynecologists consulting services.

The company has plans to open one such centre every month, with a target to reach 200 to 300 such stores across Vietnam.

Quadria's investment into Con Cung follows a series of healthcare and consumer-health investments in the 18 months after the investment firm closed its oversubscribed US$595 million Quadria Capital Fund II.

Given the rapid deployment of the fund, Quadria said it is making preparations to raise Quadria Capital Fund III to continue investing in healthcare and consumer-health related companies in the region.

Earlier in October 2021, The Business Times also reported that Quadria was mulling setting up a special purpose acquisition company to list on the Singapore Exchange, according to people familiar with the matter.

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